Warner claims $6M FIFA gift was to back Blatter

By GRAHAM DUNBAR, AP Sports Writer
| 6:12 a.m.April 26, 2013

FILE - In this June 2, 2011 file photo, uspended FIFA executive Jack Warner speaks during a news conference held shortly after his arrival at the airport in Port-of-Spain, in his native Trinidad and Tobago. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) ethics and integrity committee accuses Warner and its former secretary general Chuck Blazer of enriching themselves through fraud, in a 100-page report presented at the organization's congress in Panama
— AP

FILE - In this June 2, 2011 file photo, uspended FIFA executive Jack Warner speaks during a news conference held shortly after his arrival at the airport in Port-of-Spain, in his native Trinidad and Tobago. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) ethics and integrity committee accuses Warner and its former secretary general Chuck Blazer of enriching themselves through fraud, in a 100-page report presented at the organization's congress in Panama
/ AP

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, left, symbolically launches the construction work for the new FIFA museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, April 25, 2013. FIFA says its US dollar 200 million museum will now be created downtown in its home city of Zurich. Construction work has started in the Enge district and the museum is scheduled to open in April or May 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Steffen Schmidt)— AP

+Read Caption

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, left, symbolically launches the construction work for the new FIFA museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, April 25, 2013. FIFA says its US dollar 200 million museum will now be created downtown in its home city of Zurich. Construction work has started in the Enge district and the museum is scheduled to open in April or May 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Steffen Schmidt)
/ AP

GENEVA 
Former soccer official Jack Warner claims FIFA gifted him $6 million toward a training center in Trinidad to support Sepp Blatter's first election as president in 1998.

Warner says a deal in May 1998 with then-FIFA President Joao Havelange ensured backing from the CONCACAF region for Blatter in what turned out to be a tight contest against Lennart Johansson.

"Blatter would never have seen the light of day as president of FIFA" without 30 CONCACAF votes, Warner said in a speech distributed to international media Friday.

It's the latest attack on FIFA since Warner promised a "tsunami" of revelations after the then-FIFA vice president was implicated in a bribery scandal while opposing Blatter's latest election two years ago.

Warner's claim details his ownership of the Trinidad center of excellence, now valued at $22.5 million. Last week, an integrity panel accused him of fraudulently managing the body running soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Warner spoke to his Trinidad constituents late on Thursday, days after resigning from the island's government amid the latest soccer scandal to implicate the longtime FIFA power broker.

He also published letters apparently showing Havelange agreed to convert FIFA's loan of $6 million into a donation to him and the Caribbean Football Union.

"I told Havelange that, through him, Blatter will get CONCACAF's total support," Warner said. "Blatter had been at this time the most hated FIFA official by both the European and African confederations.

"I was Blatter's idol then and he was mine."

FIFA declined to comment in detail "on any allegations made by Jack Warner."

"In general, anyone who has any substantiated allegations to make is welcome to address such allegations to the relevant bodies at FIFA, including the independent Ethics Committee," FIFA said in a statement.

Warner's version of saving the election for Blatter doesn't entirely match a widely reported account, which involves African delegates switching sides just ahead of the vote in Paris on June 8, 1998.

Johansson, then UEFA president, was expected to be a strong candidate in the election to replace Havelange based mainly on widespread support across Europe and Africa, and some voters in Asia.

The Swedish official declined to contest a second ballot required by FIFA election rules after Blatter had a 111-80 victory in the first.

British author David Yallop wrote in a book published in 1999 that up to 20 Africans were paid by Middle East interests to abandon their promised support for Johansson, which probably would have given him 100 votes and momentum to beat Blatter in the second ballot.

Warner, who hopes to revive his political career in Trinidad, could face legal action from CONCACAF and FIFA over his ownership.

Havelange, who is still FIFA honorary president at 97, could face sanctions sooner in a World Cup kickbacks investigation.